Tag: WM Phoenix Open

Charley Hoffman’s nickname is Seagull because he, well, we’ll let him explain

“I accepted it. I embrace the term seagull as a nickname.”

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Charley Hoffman is competing in his 18th consecutive WM Phoenix Open this week.

He is noticeable in the green shirts and golf gloves, as he is sponsored by WM, the title sponsor of the tournament.

But do you know what Hoffman’s nickname is? And do you know how he got it?

Four years ago, he joined the “Gravy and the Sleeze” show on SiriusXM, which is co-hosted by Colt Knost, to get into the details.

“I accepted it. I embrace the term seagull as a nickname and it sucks because Colt eventually heard of it and didn’t let it go,” Hoffman quipped.

He then got into the origin story.

“Well, seagulls are known for flying around and (expletive) on people . . . so I am a seagull,” he said. “I fly around and drop (expletive) on people. And it usually makes them laugh or sometimes is pisses them off. It all depends on what mood you’re in.”

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1375]

Unruly Phoenix Open fans stir memories of epic Chris DiMarco quip: ‘I’d love to get a six-pack of beer … go yell at them while they’re making sales calls’

Dimarco had a few zingers for the fans who step out of line.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Fan/player interaction at the WM Phoenix Open is usually positive. Sure, fans like to heckle the golfers who miss the green at No. 16 but they’re just as quick to erupt into roars after great shots. Fans are always eager to reach out to high-five players as they walk by at many parts of the crowded TPC Scottsdale.

But certainly fans can go too far with their comments, taunts and jeers. Pro golfers are trying to do “their f—ing jobs”, as Billy Horschel told fans during Saturday’s action. Zach Johnson also got into it with some other fans, imploring them to shut up.

It’s nothing new, really, during the People’s Open. The winner of the then-FBR Open in 2002 at TPC Scottsdale, Chris DiMarco had a rough closing stretch in 2004 as victory slipped away, and the fans couldn’t not engage.

After his round, an animated DiMarco had some choice comments.

“They’re just inebriated out there,” he said. “Nothing bothered me. Absolutely not. I heard about 10 or 12 ‘Noonans’ (after a bogey at 16) that I heard from years past. It’s fine.”

He then offered up an opinion that other pro golfers surely have thought of before.

“I’ll just say this. I’d love to get a six-pack of beer, go find out where some of those guys work, go in their office, sit on my chair and go yell at them while they’re making sales calls. It’d be beautiful. It really would,” DiMarco said. “It’s a little disappointing that they don’t show more respect than that, but it goes with the hole. You would’ve thought that since I’d won here and being a past champion, maybe they’d show a little more respect, but it just goes to show what alcohol does to you.

“That (16th) hole is fun for the most part, except for maybe 2 percent of the crowd,” said DiMarco in 2004. “Those 2 percent are complete idiots. Unfortunately, those 2 percent make the rest of the tournament get just a little bit lower than it should be. I love it here.”

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Zach Johnson (wrongly) and Billy Horschel (rightfully) confronted hecklers at the 2024 WM Phoenix Open

The People’s Open isn’t for everybody

The People’s Open is certainly not for everyone. Sometimes that includes the players and sometimes it’s the fans.

During a rainy week for the WM Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale, where officials temporarily cut off alcohol sales and closed the entrance gates, both the golfers and spectators had their share of lowlights.

First up: Zach Johnson, who is still routinely receiving criticism for his decisions as 2023 United States Ryder Cup captain. On Saturday, videos captured Johnson getting fed up with fans after hitting a tee shot. According to social media accounts, Johnson shouted something to the fans as he approached the tee box, then shanked the ensuing shot, leading someone in the gallery to yell “guess being an [expletive] doesn’t help]”.

That sent Johnson straight over to the ropes for a confrontation.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C3NsebVuAGQ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Johnson has played this event 14 times and knows the deal. For him to lose his cool a bit shows you how different a scenario this was. That said, he should also know better. This is the one tournament every year where fans are allowed to let the pros hear it when they goof — as opposed to nearly every other sport where that’s the norm. After hitting a bad shot, Johnson should’ve just put his head down and left the area.

On the other hand, Billy Horschel confronting a fan who was yelling during Nicolo Galletti’s swing feels a bit more warranted.

Warning: NSFW Language 

There’s a really fine line at this event, which evidently becomes harder to find each year. Go to TPC Scottsdale expecting a party, of course, but doing something as basic as waiting five seconds before yelling when someone is taking a shot is hardly asking much at all.

It’s entirely understandable Horschel would look out for his playing partner. And it makes you wonder if this incredibly successful event is overdue for some tweaks to make sure it stays that way.

[lawrence-auto-related count=2 category=2306]

 

 

Scottie Scheffler goes on Sunday birdie binge, WM Phoenix Open three-peat is alive and well

Only one other golfer has won the event three straight years: Arnold Palmer.

SCOTTSDALE Ariz. — Scottie Scheffler won his first PGA Tour stop at the WM Phoenix Open two years ago.

Now he’s in prime position to be the first to win the event three years in a row at TPC Scottsdale.

Scheffler made five straight birdies on Nos. 9 through 13 in the resumption of his third round Sunday morning, the fourth time he’s done that in his career, to zoom up the leaderboard and get to 13 under, one stroke off the lead.

He bogeyed the 14th but then birdied the 16th to stay within a shot of first-round leader Nick Taylor, second-round leader Sahith Theegala and Charley Hoffman.

A few minutes later, he poured in a four-footer for birdie on the driveable par-4 17th to get to 14 under and forge a four-way tie for the lead. But he inexplicably putted off the green from 42 feet and into the bunker at 18 and made bogey to drop two strokes off the lead heading into the final round.

Arnold Palmer turned the hat trick in the ’60s but that was when the tournament was held at Phoenix Country Club.

The final round officially started at 10:15 a.m. local time (12:15 p.m. ET) with the third round still in progress on other parts of the course as tournament organizers decided not to re-order groups for the final round. The last group started their final rounds at about 12:15 p.m. local time.

Play was called due to darkness each of the first three days at 6:07 p.m. local time.

The Super Bowl in Las Vegas kicks off at 4:30 p.m. Arizona time, so the final round is likely to overrun the start of the big game.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 tag=451202978]

How to watch 2024 WM Phoenix Open, which might overlap start of Super Bowl

Golf Channel, NBC and Peacock are teaming up on the coverage of the 2024 WM Phoenix Open.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Rain on Thursday, a frost delay on Friday and a cut that didn’t come till nearly 2 p.m. local time Saturday put a twist on the 2024 WM Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale. The third round spilled into Sunday, which saw a second frost delay of the week, this one was an hour and 16 minutes.

Fans at home started watching the Sunday action on PGA Tour Live on ESPN+ at 10:30 a.m. ET.

Golf Channel and Peacock came on with TV and streaming coverage from 1-3 p.m. ET.

Network television coverage on NBC is scheduled to run from from 3-6 p.m. ET but the tournament will go beyond that. If it does, Golf Channel will be ready to go. It won’t get dark until about 8:15 p.m. or so ET. The NBC coverage will also be simulcast on Peacock.

Meanwhile, the Super Bowl in Las Vegas is scheduled to kick off at 6:30 p.m. ET on CBS.

‘Shut up’: Zach Johnson, Billy Horschel yell at unruly 2024 WM Phoenix Open fans

Fans were heard early and often on Sunday at TPC Scottsdale.

The WM Phoenix Open bills itself as “The People’s Open,” but with its boisterous fans – who are often overserved, especially at the par-3 16th party hole – and different vibe, the PGA Tour’s annual stop in Phoenix may not be for everyone, especially the old-school pros.

Zach Johnson may be a new name on that list. The 12-time winner on Tour has made 14 appearances at the Phoenix Open dating back to 2005 when it was the FBR Open. He made the cut in 12 of those starts and has bagged six top-25 finishes and a top 10. In other words, Johnson is no stranger to the scene at TPC Scottsdale, which made the video below all the more curious.

The 47-year-old blew up at fans during the third round of the 2024 WM Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale on Saturday, and the confrontation was caught on camera.

“Somebody said it, I’m just sick of it. Just shut up,” Johnson said to a group of fans before security stepped in on the par-5 15th-hole tee box.

The Tour wants the WM Phoenix Open to be fun, but all that fun can come at a disruptive cost. It’s unclear what led to the interaction, and maybe Johnson was justified in telling the fan to pipe down. But if you can’t handle a heckler, then the People’s Open just may not be for you anymore.

You can also add Billy Horschel to the list. The seven-time winner went off on a fan, justifiably so, after someone in the gallery was talking during a player’s swing. This video may not be safe for delicate ears.

With the third round and final round still to be completed, the players could be in for a long Sunday at TPC Scottsdale.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1375]

Jon Rahm’s former ASU roommate Nicolo Galletti making waves at Phoenix Open

Galletti went from the Monday qualifier to making the cut at TPC Scottsdale in his first PGA Tour start.

SCOTTSDALE Ariz. — As much as the concept of quiet exists on a Saturday at TPC Scottsdale, it followed Nicolo Galletti. When he slid a birdie putt past the 14th hole, it earned only a wayward expletive from a fan who wanted to draw some laughs. When he slid another past the 15th, there was a customary groan, but not a personal one. No one, it seemed, knew who Galletti was, and why would they?

On Saturday afternoon, as he made his way around the WM Phoenix Open in anonymity, Galletti was ranked 1044th in the world. He had never played in a PGA Tour event. In 56 career tournaments across the Korn Ferry Tour, PGA Tour Latinoamerica and PGA Tour Canada, his total earnings added up to just $102,814. A finish in the top 65 would ensure this week as the most lucrative of his career.

So when Galletti walked into the stadium hole at 16, there were none of the “A-S-U” chants that Sun Devil golfers usually receive. If any fans even noticed the pitchfork on his golf bag, they kept it to themselves.

Galletti, though, was determined to change that. He’s been here before, in this crowd. The only year he missed the Open was in 2022, when he fell short in a playoff at the Monday qualifier and couldn’t stomach the idea of seeing the tournament live. Every other February, he’s made his way to TPC Scottsdale as a paying fan, just like everyone else. He knows what this is all about.

“Definitely wanted to pump them up,” Galletti said.

Even if no one knew his name, he figured he could do that with a marketing stunt, throwing headphones in the crowd as he walked towards the 16th green. That got the fans on Galletti’s side, and when he drained a 19-foot birdie putt, they erupted. Finally, someone even noticed his college allegiances. A group of four fans in American flag rompers — the type to arrive at 3:30 a.m. for their premium perch — yelled out ‘ASU baby’ and ‘Go Sun Devils.’

What they didn’t know was that, with Galletti’s birdie, everything changed. He was excited to play to the fans, but also to flip the switch on his own fortunes. The putt gave him a three-stroke buffer to the cut line, enough to all but ensure his tournament would go on. By the end of the round, he was still at 4 under, in a tie for 34th.

It would be a moment out of an aspiring PGA Tour pro’s dreams, except that the past few years have been so turbulent and so busy that Galletti hasn’t had time for dreaming.

“This is always what I thought I would be doing for my life,” he said, but even in college, it was difficult to know what path that would take. “I was struggling pretty good,” Galletti said, recalling an ASU career that only featured four top-10 finishes in as many years.

Meanwhile, his senior year roommate at The Hub, across from Sun Devil Stadium, was the No. 1 amateur in the world. Ticketed for green jackets and multi-million dollar paydays. Some guy named Jon Rahm.

The two were best friends, a pair of soccer fans with southern European connections. Rahm is from the Basque Country in northern Spain; Galletti’s father moved to the U.S. from Italy. On his collegiate bio, he listed his dream historical sporting event not as a bygone Masters or U.S. Open, but as Italy’s triumph at the 2006 World Cup.

They talked about all of that, and everything else roommates talk about. To this day, they’re still good friends. This week, Rahm has been texting him with a steady stream of advice, most of it focused on staying calm amid the hysteria.

But even back at ASU, long before Rahm ditched the PGA Tour for LIV Golf, the notion of playing together on big stages was never discussed.

2024 WM Phoenix Open
Nicolo Galletti plays his second shot on the ninth hole during the first round of the 2024 WM Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale. (Photo: Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

“We were a couple different levels back then,” Galletti said with a laugh. “Which we still are now,” he added, as if that fact were easy to forget.

This season may be the most promising of Galletti’s career — his performance in DP World Tour Q-School last year earned him a card for that circuit — but it’s still not easy. His last event was the Mauritius Open. His next event will be back in that part of the world, two weeks from now at the Kenya Open.

“Definitely don’t have the biggest bank account right now,” Galletti said. “But it is what it is. This week will be nice.”

That’s especially true in contrast to where he’s come from. In 2019 — three years after he graduated from ASU, with his golf career still on the ground floor — he suffered an almost impossible string of injuries. There was a torn oblique that sidelined him for months, followed by a broken wrist when he was sitting on a bag stand that collapsed. As soon as the wrist healed, a friend fell into his leg at Rahm’s wedding, causing a sprained ankle.

Unable to play golf or do much exercise of any kid, Galletti added 40 pounds. “In my golfing career,” he said, “that was definitely the toughest time.”

It would have been easy to see the injuries as a sign to call it quits and to use his degree for a calmer career. Instead, they reminded him how much he needed the game.

“I just like golf a lot,” Galletti said. “I don’t really know what else I would do, to be honest.”

During the pandemic, he found a home on the Outlaw Tour, a pay-to-play circuit that got a financial boost from gamblers desperate for action. A few good weeks there helped him gain a foothold on the PGA Tour Latinoamerica, where he played 11 events in 2022. That turned into a summer run on the PGA Tour Canada last year.

By contrast, this year is steady. But it’s not really steady. Galletti knows that. Regular events on the PGA Tour — ones that don’t require a playoff in the Monday qualifier — are still a long way away.

The solution, as he sees it, is to enjoy the present. Wherever it leads.

Once a fixture at WM Phoenix Open, most Arizona State alums now play for LIV Golf

Arizona State men’s golf alumni have traditionally been a big part of the WM Phoenix Open.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Arizona State men’s golf alumni have traditionally been as big a part of the WM Phoenix Open as its crazy costumes and inebriated fans. This year is no different with five former Sun Devils in the field. But it’s the ASU alums not in the tournament who are most conspicuous.

Six former Sun Devils have jumped to LIV Golf, most notably Jon Rahm and Phil Mickelson, who have a combined 64 PGA Tour victories. Mickelson once played 30 consecutive times at TPC Scottsdale.

The five remaining Sun Devils in the Phoenix Open field have a combined five PGA Tour wins (three by Chez Reavie and two by Grayson Murray).

“The ASU presence, I feel like it’s not as much anymore,” Murray said of the Phoenix Open field.

But while LIV has drained the Sun Devil connection to the Phoenix Open, ASU coach Matt Thurmond said he does not believe it detracts from his program.

“While I appreciate everything that the PGA Tour does and has done, and I appreciate everything LIV is doing, I don’t have a horse in the race,” Thurmond said. “What I want is what’s best for our players.”

In 2022, Thurmond’s star player – David Puig – decided it was best for him to leave school early and join LIV. Puig now plays for Fireballs GC alongside Sergio Garcia.

“It got to the point where we felt like it was such a no-brainer for him,” Thurmond said.

Puig initially played in a few LIV events as an amateur while remaining on ASU’s team. But eventually the deal “got even better for him,” Thurmond said. So, Puig turned pro in a groundbreaking development for the upstart golf league. The young Spaniard paid his own tuition to complete his degree at ASU and still lives with three current Sun Devils golfers.

“Our relationship as friends, it didn’t change much,” Puig said.

Puig’s LIV decision foreshadowed the arrival of a far more famous Spanish Sun Devil in Rahm. The reigning Master’s champion and world No. 3 player committed to LIV in a shocking reversal last December.

Like Puig, Rahm still lives in Scottsdale. In his news conference before the LIV Las Vegas event this weekend, he expressed sadness at missing out on the Phoenix Open and said he hopes to play in the event again.

Rahm’s absence casts a shadow over the tournament – and the future of the PGA Tour. But the ASU alums still in the Phoenix Open field say their relationships with Rahm are unchanged.

“Jon is one of my best friends,” said Nicolo Galletti, a former Sun Devil making his first PGA Tour start at the Phoenix Open. “He obviously just went to LIV, and I think it’s awesome for him.

“Make your money. That’s what it’s about. This is a job.”

The players did not believe that ASU alums on LIV were actively pulling other Sun Devils to the breakaway tour.

“I think it was just all on an individual basis,” said Reavie, who has played in 400 events on the PGA Tour since 2002.

Puig agreed that the ASU presence on LIV was not a major factor in his decision. But he did speak to Rahm about LIV before the two-time major winner made the switch.

“I don’t know if our talks helped or not,” Puig said.

Puig and Rahm played golf together frequently this past offseason.

“We have a lot of things in common, which is crazy because he’s a superstar, and I’m just starting my professional life,” Puig said.

While it has poached some of the world’s best talent, LIV still lags far behind the PGA Tour in popularity among fans. When both tours were live last Saturday, the PGA Tour received more than 11 times the viewership than LIV.

A 2022 survey famously found that only about 22 percent of golf fans approved of LIV. The league recently came under fire for allegedly threatening to imprison bankers that cooperated with the U.S. government investigation into the planned merger between it and the PGA Tour.

But the ASU men’s golf team seems to feel differently about LIV than most golf fans.

“It’s not just ASU, it’s all teams,” Thurmond said. “These kids are really excited about what LIV’s doing.”

The team aspect of LIV is particularly intriguing for college golfers, according to Thurmond.

With three current players ranked among the top 20 amateurs in the world, the Sun Devil presence on LIV could grow even larger in the coming years. Thurmond said he wouldn’t comment specifically on whether his current players – including freshman Wenyi Ding, Preston Summerhays and Josele Ballester – had already been approached by LIV.

“But I will say that they have had or actively have opportunities all the time,” Thurmond said.

Though the most famous ASU alums play elsewhere, the Sun Devils on the PGA Tour continue to have an impact. Rookie Kevin Yu posted two top-10 finishes in January, putting him inside the top 30 of the FedEx Cup standings. Yu accrued the second-best career scoring average (70.46) in ASU history during the Golfstat era, trailing only Rahm.

“One thing that stands out with Kevin is his ball-striking,” Thurmond said. “It’s pretty stunning to watch. He hits it as high and as far and as straight … as anybody I’ve ever seen.”

Murray won the Sony Open in Hawaii earlier this year, earning his second career victory and first since 2017.

Reavie, Galletti and Jesse Mueller – also a volunteer assistant for the Grand Canyon University men’s golf team – round out the Sun Devils in the 2024 Phoenix Open field.

With ASU playing in Hawaii at the Amer Ari Invitational, LIV playing its second event of the season in Las Vegas and the Phoenix Open scrambling to finish after heavy rain delayed the schedule, it will inevitably be a massive weekend for Sun Devils golfers.

“The golf program here has always been just a major part (of the university),” Thurmond said. “Golf is a really big deal here.”

King Jemison is a graduate student at Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism.

Jordan Spieth, Scottie Scheffler chasing leader Nick Taylor on a long day of golf Saturday at 2024 WM Phoenix Open

There’s a distinct possibility of golf stretching into Monday.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Nick Taylor finished only six holes on Saturday at TPC Scottsdale, electing to mark his 6-foot par putt at the seventh green and wait until play resumes in the morning. He chose to do so despite leading the field at the WM Phoenix Open in putting this week and having drained a 48-foot bomb just two holes earlier to the take the tournament lead at 13 under, one stroke ahead of 36-hole leader Sahith Theegala. Asked why he chose to wait despite riding such a red-hot putter, Taylor said, “Because I couldn’t see the hole.”

Good reason, indeed. The horn blew suspending play for darkness at 6:11 p.m. local time, and setting up a marathon Sunday, which presents the distinct possibility of stretching into Monday.

Taylor, a native of Canada who makes his home not far from the tournament and practices here regularly, has good vibes here after finishing second last year.

 “A lot of years in a row I didn’t,” said Taylor, who never had finished in the top 10 before last year but now has shot 62 in 2023 and tied the course record on Friday with a 60. “I’m definitely in good position to try to finish it off.”

Here are four more things to know from Saturday at the WM Phoenix Open.

Fans were loving Smylie Kaufman and Kevin Kisner commentating the 16th hole at the WM Phoenix Open

Yup. Kiz was booing bad shots all afternoon.

Announcers openly booing players? Acceptable at the WM Phoenix Open.

And there were no shortage of boos Saturday afternoon and evening at TPC Scottsdale, especially on the 16th tee box. The rowdiest hole in golf is known for good shots being praised and bad ones being ridiculed.

But the announcers getting in on the fanfare? That’s what Smylie Kaufman and Kevin Kisner did on Saturday’s broadcast. NBC Sports set the duo up a few yards from the 16th tee box, and from the first tee shot, they provided a different type of commentary than we’ve seen from an NBC broadcast in some time.

Sure, Colt Knost and Amanda Renner have set up shop on this hole in previous years and done a stellar job, but with the CBS crew having the week off thanks to the Super Bowl, it was NBC’s time to showcase something new.

They may have struck gold.

Fans chimed in on social media in support of the duo and their non-stop debauchery from the 16th tee. Kisner even had a football he would pass to players for them to toss into the crowd, but the duo didn’t hold back commentating on the golf.

They praised good shots and boo’ed bad ones. They were clearly having fun, and the excitement of the 16th hole truly came through on the broadcast.

Kevin Kisner and Smylie Kaufman on the 16th tee box. (Photo: NBC Sports)

Here’s some of the best reactions to the duo making their debut from the tee box.